Controller for car-door motors.



J. P. MQELROY CONTROLLER FOR GAR DOOR MOTORS.

Patented Mar. 14,1 911.

APPLIOA'IfION'I'ILED SEPT. 20, 1909.

- 5 SHEETS-SHEET 1 J; F. McELRQY. CONTROLLER FOR GAR ndok' MO APPLIGATION FILED SEPT. 20, 190a.

Patented Mar. 14, 1911.

5 sums-3mm 2.

QInUEnTE ATP- 3 J. F. MGELROY.

CONTROLLER FOR OAR DOOR MOTORS. I

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 20, 19,09.

Patented Mar. 14, 1911.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

J. F. MOELROY- GONTROLLBR FOR GAR DOOR MOTORS.

. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 20, 1909. 7 987,006. 1 Patented Mar. 14, 1911.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

JAMES Ii. IK'ICELROY, F ALBANY, NEW YORK, ASSIG-NOR T0 CONSOLIDATED CAR HEATING CQMPANY, A CORPORATION 0F WEST VIRGINIA.

CONTROLLER FOR CAR-DOOR MOTORS.

oeaooe.

Specification of Letters Pacent.

Patented Mar. 14, 1911;

Application filed September 20, 1909. Serial No. 518,648.

ll lotors, the following being a full, clear, and exact disclosure of the one form of my invention which I at present deem prefer able.

For a detailed description of the present form of my invention, reference may be had to the .following specification and to the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, in whicle V Figure 1 shows my apparatus in position on the car; Figs. 2 and 3 are a diagrammatic representation of the. lever scheme; F 4 and 5 are details of the operating handles at the end of the car; Figs. 6 and 7 are plan and side views of the valve connections; 8, 9 and 10 show the control of the valves by an obstruction strip; Figs. l1, l2 and 13 show a modified form of the obstruc tion-strip control.

My invention principally relates to the means by which the control of the car doors at either end, and if desired, from the train platform can be accomplished in a manner appropriate to the practical operation of trains such as are employed in urban t-rafiic.

l also provide means for supplementary control by the automatic action of an obstruction-strip on the forward edge of the door.

l illustrate my invention by showing its application to the control valve of a pneumatic type of a motor door.

It will be finderstood that in the followiug figures there is shown, in Fig. 1, the application of my invention to the operation of a door of a. car such as is ordinarily employed in urban railways, as for instance, the snbwaysot New York city. Fig. 1 also shows that form of my invention in which the arrest of the door by striking an O JStlllC- tion will serve to automatically work the valve. Iii-Figs. Q to 4 inclusive, the illustration is somewhat diagrammatic for the purpose of siuuilitying the principles involved, it being understood that, in practice, thocontrol handles at the ends of the car will not be connected. directly to the operating rods 7), 'b, as shown in Figs. 2 to 5, but will be connected thereto by a system of intermediate leverswhich will allow the con trol handles to be placed on the end walls of the car, as shown in Fig. 1, while the rods 7), 6, will be underneath the car. Similarly the platform handle I) will have its operating connection with the valve and intermediate devices substantially as shown in Fig. 1.

Moreover, in practice, the valve arm a of and 3 Wlll be connected ndirectly Figs. 2 to the operating rods 1), t), in the manner shown, for example, in Figs. 6 and 7. The principle of operation can, however, best be explained by reference to the somewhat diagrammatic illustration in Figs. 2 to 5, inclusive, which show the invention in its simplest form. it. will also be understood that the valve A may he of any desired type capable. of admitting air pressure to the door-operating motor and if such motor is of the recip rocatiug type, as indicated in Figs. (3 and 7, the valve will control the exhaustot the air in the rear of the piston and admission of air in front of the piston for each direction of movement. Such'motors and control valves are well known andit is unnecessary to illustrate the details thereof in the present case.

I will first refer to A represents the control valve for the phone matic motors employed to operate the doors, it being understood that when the valve arm a is in the position shown in Fig. 2 each motor will operate to close its door, and will operate to open the doorwhen the valve arm a is 111 the position shown in F1g. 3.

Theouter end of valve arm a is connected at e withamo 'able operating member, to wit, a'

floating lever B, by link rod a or the lever may be pivoted directly upon the extremity of the valve arm. From opposite ends of the floating lever B extend the rods 7), Z), one leading to the right hand and the other to the left hand end of the car and there connected. respectively to the end-operating levers (1 (left) and C (right).

I Each of these end-operating levers is mounted on a plate C tween stops a. lever is pivoted and oscillate thereon be- On the upper end of each a handle Cmovable with reto assume a horizontal position, as-shown 'in Fig. 4 inwhich the handle stands out at right angles with the lever, or to assume a vertical position as shown in Fig. 5 in which the handle is folded down against the lever. The handle C itself forms an angle orbell-crank lever with a short branch C (see F 2 5, and 7), which when the therebylocked. It can only be released by lifting the handle to the horizontal osition shown in Fig. 4. Thus each han le is locked in the closed position of the'door and,

on the contrary, in the open position of the door it is not locked but free to swing. Moreover, on the face of each-back plate is a curved ridge 0 with a central notch there: in whereby as the operator, with handle C lifted, moves the lever over the plate, the short arm 0 of the angle lever handle will fall momentarily into the notch. This will not prevent continued movement of the handle but will indicate to the trainman that the lever, at the moment it passes the notch,

' is in a position which brings the motor valve to the overlap point at whichthe valve connects the two sides of the piston so that the air pressure may become equalized on both sides thereof, and will show him that the motor is in the neutral position and that by leaving the handle at that point the door will be free to be opened by hand, while the continued movement of the handle past the notch will cause the motor to open the door. By this means the lever will become locked when in the door-closing position and cannot be moved to the door-opening positionexcept by lifting the handle C from its verticalto its horizontal position. .The object of this is to prevent people from reachingin between the cars and grabbing the handle to throw the door open while the train is in mot-ion. I preferably form the operating levers C and O with a raised edge or flange 0 serving as a guard for the handle which drops in behind the guard, but allowing the fingers to reach over the guard and grasp the handle. It will be understood that, as shown in Fig. 1, the lever will be mounted on the outside end of the car, so that the trainman standing between two cars will face the inside edge of the 1 been operated manually h the trainmen.

In Fig. 2 both end han .les are sho spect to thelever on a horizontal axis, so as the closed and locked position, and if the right-hand lever C be then thrown to the.

open position, as shown in Fig. 2, the floatinglever B will fulcrum at the point'a: on the end of the rod 1) leading to the lefthandof the car, the left-hand operating lever C being locked. Similarly if the parts were in the condition shown in Fig. 2, 1t is manifest that if the left-hand lever C were turned to the open position the floating lever B would fulcrum at the point y at the end of the rod 6 leading to the righthand end of the car, and the valve would be thereby moved to the open position as appears in Fig. 3, the floating lever having fulcrumed at the point 1 however instead of at the point :0. Thus either of the rods 1) may serve lever-to fulcrum at the central point a and thereby swing the right-hand-lever C to its closed and locked position. Thus the floating lever has a third fulcrum on the end of rod a or the valve arm (I, if the lever B mounted directly thereon. Then, the righthand lever C'being locked, the left-hand lever C, which is being used will be drawn back to its closed position and the parts will be brought to the door-closing position 'shown in Fig. 2, the lever Bfulcruming at the-point y. Thus, if a trainman findsthe doors open and the lever at-which he happens to be stationed is in the closed position lze simply first throws itto the open position and then draws it 'baclnwhile if he finds it already in the-open position he draws it back to the closed position without such preliminary movement. In other words, he knows that, to close the door, the lever must be in I the open position and if it is not already in that position he moves it there before I startin to close the door. By this means the trainman can from either end of the car -bot-h close and open the door ordoors of the car and at the same time the doors will be locked in their closed position and if they have previously been operated from the other end he does not have to go to that end to release them. y

I have thus far referred only to the operating levers at the car ends, but I may also have an intermediate operating lever tlnd handle n the outside of the car by which one of the platform-men can close the doors from the outside, it being howeycr impossible for him, or an exc ted passenger to catch hold of the platform and o n the doors after they have 'once been'clos, .""Su'ch as intervening between it and lever D. of

course. if the dodrs were closed, they would be locked by the end handles and the valve could not be worked by the platforn'i handle.

11; however, the end handles are in the open I and unlocked position, then the turning of i the platform handle will throw thr- Wilt":

into the closing position and at the same time will throw into such closing position that one of the end handles which had been previously used to open/the door and automatiically lock it. I may also add to the apparatus thus far described a mechanical locking device consisting of a steel bar E mounted on the lower crank ot' the platform handle and having an offset at its cxtremities. lVhen the parts are in the closing position shown in Fig. 2 the said ottset will stand in the path of a dog 6 on the door and lock the door. Thedog c is pivoted to the door and has an inclined surface on its an der side, shown by dotted lines in Figs. 2 and 3 and intull lines in Fig. 1, so that it the door has been opened and one of the con trolling levers is then, turned to close it, the dog will slideover the aforesaid ottset on the bar dog 0 without obstructing the prog- V ress of the door to its closed position, and

then drop infront of the offset to lock the door. The cranks, the platform handle and the mechanical lhck just mentioned will be placed in the space behind the door so that the door in opening will pass by them and leave them inclosed in the space behind the door inside of the ear. The purpose of this mechanical lock is to give additional security in the event or the air pressure being taken oli" the car, as son'ietimes happens. In such an event/the door,.when closed, is still held closed by this mechanical lock and the lock' can be released by the operation of the handle at either endof the car and the door can then be opened by hand. The movement of either of the end handles or the platform handle will throw the mechanical lock E out of the path of the dog 0 on the door and release it/ lVhilc I have shown in Figs. 2 and 1-} the direct connection of the valve arm a to the rods Z), I), through the floating lever B, the connection will in practice he preferably a more indirect one, as shown in the remaining figures of the drawings, in order to bring the rods 1), 7), underneath the car floor and the valve A above the car fioor. The principles of operation, however, remain the same. Inthat case the floating lever B will be pivoted at its center on the extremity of I l l I; l l I a crank arm which projects radially from the lower end of a vertical shaftpassing throng-h the fioor of the car, end of this shaft will have an operating connection with the valve arm a. This differs only inthe form of the mechanical connece tion between the floating lever B and the valve arm a from the simplified arrangement shown in Figs. 2 to 4 inclusive, the form of the mechanical connection being a matter of detail, and it being also understood that there is the same characteristic action heretofore described of the rods 3), 6, upon the floating lever B and a mechanical connection from said floating lever to the valve arm a for operating it. Referring to Figs. 6, and 7, the floating lever B heretofore described and the rods Z) 6 are shown as placed under the floor of the car, as particularly appears in Fig. 7 and as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 6 (see also Figs. 11 and 13). 16 rod 6 extending. to the right-hand end of the car is jointed to a crank b on the lower end of a vertical shaft 6 a similar crank arm I) on the upper end of the shaft 1) being connected by a rod 6 to the aforesaid operating lever C. The floating lever B to which the rods 6 Z) are jointed is centrally pivoted to the end of a crank arm G which is best shown in Figs. 10 and 13, and this crank arm is on the lower end of a vertical rock shaft mounted in a sleeve g castin tegral-ly w th a base plate on the. upper and the upper side of the car floor, this same casting formleading to the lower bell crank of the plat .form lever, while is linked to the valve arm a .by means of a link g screwed into the sleeve which is pivoted to the extremity of the said valve arm a, see Figs. 6 and 7. This ar angem nt provides for the required adjustment also for lost. motion and the locking of the adjustment. The air valve may be thereby'so set as to cover the ports only partly either in one direction or in both directions. That is. by disconnecting the link f from-the bolt g and screwing out the bolt 9- a! increase in the. radial length of the bolt with a consequent increase in the travel of the link may be obtained;

then by adjusting the length of the link 9,

the position of the arc mer which thevalve arm a is to travel can also be determined. These two means permit any desired adjustment of the valve, and-when the link'is v witha depending finger and a retaining set as desired. When it is employed it is obceased. The door F is provided with an therefore causes the handle at the opposite end of the car to go to the closed position :fior cutting off power from the door when it Qtoggle to its normal condition after the au-.

called 'tp again joined to the bolt the adjustment is v positively maintained. The vertical rockshaft mentioned above as mounted in the sleeve 9' on the casting containing the plate. 9 furnishes an oiled bearing with little lost motion and the casting also serves as a support for the vertical shaft and its associate parts independent of any clamps or attachments to the car. I also call attention to the ring H (Figs. 7 and 13) surrounding the lower portion of the sleeve 9 and provided screw. This acts as a stop to limit the motion of the crank arm on the rock shaft in the direction of motion when the valve is thrown to open the door. When the trainman at one end of the carthrows his handle to open position, then the crank on the vertical rock-shaft, strikes this stop. \Vhen thetrainman at the opposite end wishes to shut the door he first throws his handle to open position as above described and the stop,prevents further movement of lever B in" that direction. The floating lever B and lock. 1 I will next describe the means employed strikes an obstruction, this being shown in Figs; 8 to 13, attention being particularly Figs. .10 and 13. In general it maybe said that this device for automatically cutting off the power when the door encounters an obstruction is a supplemen tary feature which may be employed or not,

vious that there must be an additional valveoperating agency provided which will enable the valve to be'op'erat-ed automatically from the door, and that this additional valve-operating agency must not interfere with the normal operation of the valve by the rods Z), I), and the handles at the opposite ends of the car. I accomplish this by 1nterposing between the link g and the valve arm a of Fig. 6, a toggle joint operated from the door in such a way that when the door is in its normal condition there will be no interference with theoperation ofthevalve by the rods Z), I), in the wayjl have heretofore described. The action of the door will, however, break the aforesaid toggle joint and thereby work the valve independently of the said rods 1), b, which will remain in the condition'in which they happen to be at the time and'wlii'ch will regain their norand control of the valve by a return of the tomatic action thereon of the door has obstruction-strip J forming the forward or leading edge of the door and pivoted to ment of the door.

the door at its upper end, its lower end being normally pressed outward by a spring j, while near the bottom it is pivoted to a l1011- zontal bar j? extending through the door and havin at its right-hand end a slot which receives a pin j on the shorter end of a bell crank pawl j, a spring 7' in the slot giving a yielding bearing against the pin. There is also a screw j which limits the play of the pawl y'*.' By this means any obstruction encountered by the door presses the obstruction-strip inward and throws down the pawl j into engagement with a rack-bar K which is normally drawn tothe right by a spring in but when engaged by the pawl is drawn to the left by the move- The rack K is connected to the shorter arm of a bell crank lever is as appears in Fi s. 8 and 9. In this case the aforesaid lint g which operates the valve arm a. does not lead directly to the arm a but to a link 70 (see Figs. 8, 9 and 10) intervening between the aforesaid sleeve g and the valve arm 'a.- The bell crank lever 70 just mentioned i connected by a link In to the said sleeve 9". The result is that as the pawl it draws the rack-bar K to the left, it swings the bell-crank is? and thereby throws the parts from the position shown in Fig. 8 to that shown in Fig. 9, thereby operating the valve arm a independently of the normal valve-operating mechanism 'under ends of the car. In other words, there is a sort of toggle joint connection between the valve arm .a and the forged bolt 9 which normally'remains stifi and allows the movement of 9 caused by the operating of the end levers, to be communicated to the valve arm, but the joint of this toggle is broken,

as appears in Fig. 9, in the abnormal event of an obstruction-to the door. The above described operation of thevalve arm a by the obstruction apparatus will throw the the control. ofthe operating levers at. the

valve to theopenlng position and the door automatic and temporary control of th'e 12 6 covering generically the toggle-breaking device by which the door itself is givenan valve, whethersuch device assumes the spe- .eific form shown in Figs. 8, 9 and 10, or the specific form shown 1n Figs. 11 and 12,

which, in a word, difieronlyfas tothe oint ack-bar K is the same as that .atfrwhich the ,belllcrankjlfiis piyojge or this. case. the arrangement pr the door with its.obstruction-strip,, the pawl j and the heretofore described, but the ;afo,resaid .bell crank k ismonnteddirectly upon the ,Vertical sleeve 9 which'carries the vertical rock-shaft, the

. short arm of the bell crank being connected to move back against the force; of its spring ,to therack-bar as before, but.- there is also pivoted tothe, same shorter end of the bellcrank in a guide bolt 7c sliding in a bearing" 'lheright-hand end of the guide bolt k ,carries arabber butter 71: which abuts against the bearing L and serves as a stop for the, racltebar when that bar is drawnt'or- .p'ard by the door and the reversing operation has completed its movement. I? urthermore, the bell crank L where it is mounted as aforcsaid outhewerticalsleeve g has a rounded lug L' engag ng a similar lug on a springpressed latch-lever lai When the door encounters obstruction the rack-bar moves the bell crank lever k which carries iorward the lug is against the similar lug on the latch is and causes the latch-bar is until the lug snaps under the corresponding lug on the latch and the latch then. holds the bell crank in the position to which the door has thrown it. The door therefore being reversed continues to move back toward its open position until the pawl i 4 on the door strikes the shorter end of the bell crank lever k and forces it away from the control of the latch bar K1, the said lug l' and the corresponding lug on the latch 70 being somewhat rounded to permit them to he disengaged when suflicientforce is applied. 'lhereupon thedoor isagain reversed and the parts return automatically from the door-opening position shown in Fig. 12 to the door-closine position shown in Fig. 11. Thus the door automatically closes itself without action by the traimnan, it being" supposcd that the obstruction has been removed in the meanwhile. If, however, the obstruction is not removed the'automatic reversing action will be repeated. until the door finds the obstruction removed and on to its closed position. In this way it is not necessary for the trainman to keep watch of the door, knowing that if it encounters some obstruction, such as a belated passenger, it will autdniatically open and let the passenger inand then reclose itself.

It will be understood that the substance of my invention may be embodied with a ,yariety of different specific! forms without ,departing from the essential spirit of the invention. i v

- What I, claim as new by Letters Patent is: l I 1. The combination with acar door, of a motor, a controller for the motor, operating levers at the respective ends otith e car b'oth connected to. thes id controller, and a lock for the closed position of the said levers, the said levers'being left unlocked at the open position. l,

2. The con-lbination with a cardoor, of a motor, a controller for the motor a movable operating member for said controller, operatinghandles at each end of the car locked in their closed positions but free in their open positions, and oppositely arranged connections between each of thesaid handles and the said operatingmember. I

'lhc'combination with a car door, ofa motor. a controller for the motor, a movable operating member for said controller, a handle at one end of the car connected to the member. a handle at the opposite end of the car, and a fulcrum for the said operating memberconnected tothe last mentioned handle.

and desire to secure 4. The combination with a car door, of

a motor, a controllerfor the motor, operat ing handles at each end of the car, and a con; nection between the handles for moving the handleat one end by means ofthe handle at the other end. i

5, The combination with a car door, of a motor, a controller for the motor, an operatiig mcmber for said controller, an operatinghandle at each end of the car, each handle being locked in its closed, position but free in its openposition, and. a conneetion between the two h andles :for moving the handle atone end from it-slfree to its locked position by the handle atthe other end.

6. The combination with a car door, of ti motor, a controller for'the motor, on opcrating member for the controller, and two fulcrums for said member controlled from opposite ends of the car respectively.

7, The combination with a car door, of a motor, a controller for the motor, a movable operating member for the controller, a connection between the controller and an intermediate point on said member, and fulcruins for said member at its ends, the said 'fulcruins being controllable from each end of the car respectively.

8. The combination with a car door, of a motor, a controller forthe motor, an operating lever for said controller, and a -ful- .crum at each end of said lever controlled by a handle at one end of'the car.

9. The combination with a car door, of a 1110iZOI',*L controller for the motor, an-operoperating motor therefor, a controller for I ating lever for the controller, a handle at the motor, an operating shaft for operating each end of the car, and three flilcrnms for the controller, a crank on said shaft, and an' the said operating lever, two of the said fuladjustable link connecting the said crank 5 ermns being connected respectively to the with the controller.

i said handles and serving for the operation 19. The combination with a door, of an of the controller from either end of the car operating motor therefor, a controller for and the third fulcrum being connected to the the motor, an operating shaft for o crating controller, and serving for the operation of the controller, a crank on said shafii, and a' {10 the handle at one end by thehandle atthe l nk adjustable in length connecting the said 5 other end. crank with the controller.

' lO. The combination with a car door, of a 20. The combination with a door, of an motor, a controller for the motor, a fioatoperating motor 'therefor, a controller for ing lever, a connection from said lever to the motor, an operating shaft for the con- 15 the--controller,.a push and 'pnll rodextending I troller, and a crank on the said shaft adfrom the opposite ends of said l'ever to the jn'stable radially for varying the throw of respective ends of the car ith operating t e C ntroller.

. handle for each of the saidrcds, and a lock 21. The combination with a car door, of

for the closed position of each handle. a motor for operating the same, a controller 20' 1,1; The combination w'ithacar door, of a for said motor, a plurality of operating motor, a controller for the motor, an operhandles for said controller and located one ating lever for the controller, a handle for at each endof the car, and a device for operthe lever movable to either a horizontal or ating said controller independently of said vertical position, and a lock 'for the lever handles; v

25 controlled by the said handles. 22. The combination with a car door, of

Y 12. The combination "with, a car door, of a a motor for operating the same, a controller motor, a controllerfor' the motor, operating for said motor, a plurality of operating handles for the controller at each end of i handles for said controller and located one the car, a platform handle, and a-lock for at each end of the car, connections between so the platform handle controlled by an end said handles and said controller holding the handle. parts in predetermined relation, and a de- 13. The combination with a .car door, of a motor, a controll'er'for the motor, a platform handle connected directly to said controller, and endhandles connected thereto through-an intermediate movable member.

vice for operating said controller independently of said handles.

23. The combination \vith-n'ear'door, of i an operating motor therefor, a controller for. the motor, an operating shaft for the con- 14. The combination with a car door, of a troller, handles at ech end of the car oonmotor, a controller for the motor, an oper- 'nected with the sai shaft, a connection beating handle for 'the'controller, a lock .for tween the shaft and the controller, and a said l1aiiiille,,a1d a lock for the door operthird operating device '"acting on the said ated by said handle. connection between the shaft and controller.

15. lhe comtiiniition with a car door, of a 24. The combination with a.car door, of mbtor, a, controller for the'motor, an oper-' an operating motor therefor, a. controller "ating lever 'fhr. the-controller, :a handle for for the motor, operating handles for the {i5 the'lever movable-{with respect thereto, and controller at each end of the car, a shaft, means for 'emporarily-engagin the handle toggle connection between said shaft and to indicate the llipipositio' of t e motor. controller, and a third operating device for 1.6. The combination wi ha car doorfof a 'the controller connected to the said toggle.

motor, a controller for. the motor, a base 25. The combination with a car door, of

.0 for said controller, a shaft-bearing on the n operating motor therefor, a reversing said base,'a shaft therein,an operating concontroller for the motor,,a.n operating .han-

nection between said shaft and controller, dle for thelcontroller ht the end of the car, an operating handle at each end of the car, 1 an'obstruction-strip-for the door, and a conand a connection between each-.of the said i holler-reversing connection between said 55 handles and the said shaft. S rip1and the controller.

17. The combination with a door,'an oper-' 1 26. Thecombination with a car door, of

' eating motor therefor, a controller for the I an opcrati'ng motor therefor, a reversing motor, an oscillating shaft for operating}controller for the motor, anobstructionthe controller, and an adjustable connection strip for the-door, an operating connection 60 between the said shaft and controller for; for the controller dominated by said strip,

- varying thecontroller movementstwith re- "land means for automatically reversing the spo e-t to the shaft. controller after-its reversal by the said strip. 126- 18. The CUml'HIHIlTIOH with a dooi'fof an 27. The combina tion with acar door, of a motor therefor, a reversing controller for the motor, an operating connection between said door and controller dominated by an obstruction-strip, undo restoring device for again reversing the motor by the movement of the door.

28. The combination with rear door, of an operating motor therefor, and a reversing; controller for the inotoroperated alternately by the door itself and by the action of an obstruction-strip.

29. The combination with a car door, of an, operating motor therefor,

areversing controller, an extension therefrom in the] obstruction-strip,-

- strip.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand before two subscribing Witnesses, this 11th day of September, 1909.

J MES F. MOELROY.

Witnessese BEULAH CABLE, JoHN M. ESTERLY. 

